Senior Software Engineer (f/m/d)

As a Senior Software Engineer, you will be the primary software point of contact for the Laser team and provide technical leadership across software, hardware, and experimental-system interfaces. You will help define the architecture and technology direction for a greenfield laser-software platform while remaining hands-on in developing reliable tools for calibration, operation, human-machine interaction, and experimental data processing.

• Act as the primary software partner for the Laser team and coordinate software activities across laser projects.
• Provide technical leadership for software initiatives, including planning, technical alignment, risk identification, and coordination with laser physicists, engineers, and systems-integration partners.
• Help define the architecture, technology choices, development practices, and interfaces for a new laser-software platform in a greenfield environment.
• Design and implement reliable software for critical laser projects, from system-level interfaces to user-facing applications.
• Develop and maintain automated calibration software that improves repeatability, reduces manual effort, and supports reliable laser operation.
• Design and build clear, dependable human-machine interfaces, dashboards, and operational tools for monitoring and operating laser systems.
• Develop software that interfaces with laser devices, diagnostic systems, cameras, and experimental equipment to support data acquisition, system monitoring, operational control, and visualization.
• Develop data-processing pipelines and data-storage solutions for experimental and operational data, including diagnostic and camera data where appropriate.
• Define robust interfaces between software, hardware, cameras, and experimental systems in an environment where requirements and technologies are still evolving.
• Work with networked device and system interfaces, potentially including TCP/IP, REST APIs, webhooks, DDS, SCADA, or comparable communication technologies.
• Write automated tests, technical documentation, and operational guidance to support long-term maintainability and safe, reliable operation.
• Identify and address reliability, performance, integration, debugging, and maintenance risks in software that interacts with real-world systems.
• Contribute to technical design discussions, code reviews, and knowledge sharing across the Software Department.
• Mentor engineers and help establish engineering practices as the software team grows.

• You are an experienced software engineer who enjoys solving complex, ambiguous technical problems and building systems from the ground up.
• You are comfortable taking ownership of technical direction while collaborating closely with software specialists, laser physicists, experimental experts, and systems-integration partners.
• You can move effectively between technical leadership, project coordination, architecture, and hands-on implementation.
• You take ownership of the quality, reliability, testability, and long-term maintainability of the systems you build.
• You communicate clearly with both software specialists and technical partners from adjacent disciplines.
• You apply sound technical judgment when making design, implementation, and technology-selection decisions in an evolving environment.
• You are curious, adaptable, and motivated to understand how software interacts with hardware, cameras, diagnostics, and experimental systems.
• You are experienced in debugging and testing complex software and understand their importance in senior-level engineering work.
• You value constructive feedback, knowledge sharing, and mentoring other engineers.
• You are interested in developing toward technical leadership and project ownership. Formal people-management responsibility is not required at the outset.
• Strong programming experience in C++, Python, or comparable programming languages.
• Experience designing, implementing, testing, debugging, and maintaining complex software systems.
• Knowledge of software architecture, code review practices, automated testing, technical documentation, and engineering best practices.
• Experience with greenfield development, platform or architecture definition, and making technology choices where requirements are still evolving.
• Experience with automated calibration, control-adjacent software, laboratory systems, automation, or physical-device interfaces.
• Experience developing human-machine interfaces, dashboards, or software for operating technical equipment.
• Experience with camera integration, image processing, diagnostic data, or experimental data-processing pipelines.
• Experience developing data-storage solutions for high-volume, time-series, experimental, or operational data.
• Familiarity with software-hardware integration and working across experimental-system boundaries.
• Experience with networked device communication or system interfaces, such as TCP/IP, REST APIs, webhooks, DDS, SCADA, or comparable technologies.
• Familiarity with control systems or optics is beneficial, but not required; the ability to learn and collaborate across these disciplines is more important.
• Previous experience mentoring engineers or leading technical design discussions.